Italy attempted to convince Barcelona star to play for national team under Mancini | OneFootball

It has been revealed that the Italy national team made attempts to convince Barcelona star Raphinha to play for the Azzurri while Roberto Mancini was still in charge back in 2020.

As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, the FIGC made ‘strong attempts’ to convince Raphinha to play for the Italy national team in 2020, prior to his senior national team debut with Brazil in 2021. Raphinha has since confirmed the approach himself, and has revealed that Jorginho played a key role in trying to convince him to play for Italy.

The 28-year-old was still playing in the Premier League with Leeds United at the time of the Italy approach, ahead of his big move to Barcelona in the summer of 2022.

Italy tried to steal Barcelona star Raphinha away from Brazil

VALLADOLID, SPAIN – MAY 03: Raphinha of FC Barcelona (L) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammate Fermin Lopez during the LaLiga match between Real Valladolid CF and FC Barcelona at Jose Zorrilla on May 03, 2025 in Valladolid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Raphinha was eligible to play for Italy through his father, Rafael Dias Belloli, who is of Italian descent.

Through his dad, Raphinha also holds an Italian passport, which means that he does not count as a non-EU player in Barcelona’s squad despite representing Brazil at international level.

Barcelona director Deco had also confirmed back in 2021 that there had been approaches from the FIGC to lure Raphinha to Coverciano, stating in an interview: “There was a strong survey from the Italian federation last year.”

Raphinha would not have been the only Italian-Brazilian in Roberto Mancini’s side in 2020, given that Jorginho, Emerson Palmieri and Rafael Toloi, all of whom have Brazilian heritage, were part of the Azzurri side that won EURO 2020 in the summer of 2021.

What Raphinha said about talks to represent Italy

BARCELONA, SPAIN – JANUARY 29: Raphinha of FC Barcelona runs with the ball whilst under pressure from Davide Zappacosta of Atalanta during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD8 match between FC Barcelona and Atalanta BC at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on January 29, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

“I was close to accepting the call-up to the Italy national team. I would have gone to the European Championships that they won in 2020. I was pretty much ready,” the Brazil international said in an interview with Isabela Pagliari.

“The guys from the Italian national team called me. Jorginho always called me. The Italian staff had this fantastic project for me, something that really impressed me. But at the same time, deep down, I still had that one percent hope of wearing the Brazil shirt. And fortunately, my Italian passport didn’t arrive in time.”